2Q consumer loans up 4.2% at P434.6B — Bangko sentral

Consumer loans grew by 4.2 percent to P434.6 billion in the second quarter from the first as more people took out residential real estate loans, the central bank said Sunday. Consumer loans were also 9 percent higher April-June period from P398.6 billion a year earlier. According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data, real estate loans accounted for 40 percent or P173.7 billion of all consumer loans during the period. Credit card purchases accounted for 26.3 percent or P114.12 billion. Auto loans and other loans accounted for 24.3 percent or P105.6 billion and 9.4 percent or P41.1 billion, respectively. The BSP noted that the chunk of consumer lending was accounted for by the big universal and regular commercial banks. They dispensed P265 billion or 61 percent of the total. Thrift banks lent P169.6 billion or 39 percent of the total, the central bank added. —JE/VS, GMANews.TV